Editing and Editing
Sometimes a sentence flows to paper or screen on a writer’s first approach. Other times it takes editing to get the tone and intended impact just right. During online photography classes with Joy Sussman, I’ve been learning that this can also be true of photographs.
Here is an early version and the final version of the last sentence of my coming-in-March picture book, Harry and Walter.
— Harry took Walter’s hand and off they went.
–Harry took Walter’s hand because some things don’t change.
And off they went — the best of friends.
And here’s a photography class assignment, before and after editing.
Which do I like editing more? Text or photos? Hard to say, they can both feel like magic sometimes, but for sure I’ll be doing plenty of text editing in March. (More on that next week.)
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Kathy Stinson is the author of the classic Red Is Best and the award-winning The Man with the Violin. Her wide range of titles includes picture books, non-fiction, young adult fiction, historical fiction, horror, biography, series books, and short stories. She has met with her readers in every province and territory of Canada, in the United States, Britain, Liberia, and Korea. She lives in a small town in Ontario.
